Winegeeks

Crémant de Die

Some 20 miles to the east of the Rhône river is the picturesque Drôme Valley, where the Drôme river flows down from the Alps. This marks the halfway point in the Rhône Valley and the boundary between the Northern wines and the Southern. It is also the marker between the alpine country to the north and the Midi and Provence areas of the south.

Crémant de Die is the AC for sparkling wines made in the Champagne method from the Clairette varietal. Sparkling wine in this region has only been produced since the 1920s, and Crémant de Die, which is a brut, only since the 1960s though it now makes up 40% of the sparkling wine produced in the region. The similar in name Clairette de Die refers to sparkling wines made from a blend of Clairette and Muscat and produced by a rare method in which the wine is bottled before the first fermentation takes place.

Crémant de Die is dry, crisp and not altogether flavorful, though it will sometimes have an enjoyable citrus aspect. The grapes are grown in limestone and clay soils at high elevations and thus retain high levels of natural acidity.